Procurement Officer

Description

PLEASE NOTE: To be considered for this opportunity, you must have current authorization to work in the United States for any employer.

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

Program / Department Summary

Global Procurement and Logistics (GPL) Team influences complete Mercy Corps procurement and logistics activity by supporting directly HQ functions and in-country operations teams and ensuring compliance to both internal policy and donor regulations. GPL establishes and maintains vendor relationships, leads strategic procurement initiatives, and encourages innovation to reduce risk and cost and increase efficiency. Our focus is to support field teams to increase capabilities through gap assessments and training on procurement, assets, warehousing and fleet.

General Position Summary

Manage the end-to-end process of soliciting, evaluating, and contracting of international independent contractors through HR and consulting firms in line with newly established policy and procedures. Play a vital role in the start-up and rollout of the new process as well as putting in place key metrics to track progress and success. Establish long-term agreements with high-quality consultants, contractors, and suppliers to reduce transactional work and receive better terms. Develop excellent partnerships with contractors, suppliers and other organizations. Establish a database to track contractors and consulting firms by category or service type. Ensure all procurement is done through the GPL team to eliminate “shadow” spend.

Essential Job Responsibilities

PROCUREMENT

Review and finalize stakeholder requirements for various independent contractors and consultants and spearhead sourcing, posting contractor positions or tendering advertisements, facilitating evaluations, conducting negotiations and due diligence, and contracting with selected parties

Use Jobvite, Mercy Corps website and other relevant channels to advertise for independent contractors and consultants

Support the introduction and implementation of the new Independent Contractor Policy and Procedures globally across Mercy Corps.

Maintain relationships with various teams across the organization including compliance, finance, people team (human resources), legal, marketing, and regional/country offices

Work closely with Human Resources teams in MC Global and MC Europe throughout the process to ensure compliance with labor laws, contact specifications, and other employment regulations

Conduct a review of the overall process following six months from implementation through regular communication and a survey with key stakeholders to identify issues and improvement areas and recommend appropriate changes

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PARTNERS

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our community partners and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Must have proven project management skills and experience with a broad range of categories and projects

Excellent communication skills, the ability to find solutions and achieve results, and the proven ability to manage change both internally and externally

Driven to meeting or exceeding project and efficiency milestones

Ability to provide fact-based advice and development of market and industry analysis

Ability to multitask productively and prioritize effectively

General knowledge of applicable laws and regulations

Knowledge of Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Google platform

Bachelor’s degree preferred

Success Factors

The successful Procurement Officer requires exceptional stakeholder engagement and communication skills in implementing Mercy Corps new Independent Contractor Policy and Procedures. Organizational skills and ability to prioritize will be critical due to the number of projects that will be underway simultaneously. Change management will also be a critical aspect of this role as we transition to a centralized global process for hiring independent contractors. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The Procurement Officer position is based in Portland and it requires up to 10% travel to other MC HQ offices.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/STA to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.